Hockey is a contact sport, and as such, players must be protected against impact, either from other players, from the boards, or from falls on the ice, pavement, etc. In order to protect the mid-portion of a player's body, the region which roughly comprises the area from above the knees to the mid-back portion, and which covers front, back and lateral sides, players have traditionally worn what is known as hockey pants. Hockey pants have traditionally been slipped on over other equipment, such as, for example, his athletic protector, shin guards, socks and even sometimes skates.
Traditional hockey pants are generally made of strong nylon or a similar material and completely cover the mid portion of the wearer. Such pants are usually in the general form of an oversized pair of shorts. Traditional hockey pants may comprise a single layer or alternatively, a number of layers, for example, an inner layer of material in contact with the skin of the wearer and an opposed outer layer. Further, traditional hockey pants usually include a variety of protective elements to protect various parts of a wearer's mid-portion, such as, for example, dorsal pads to protect the kidneys, lower back and tailbone area, hip pads to protect the front and side portions of the hip bone, as well as thigh pads to protect the front portion of the thighs. As may be understood, various types of traditional hockey pants provide a number of combinations of this general protection pattern, but may also include additional protective elements to protect various other portions of the wearer's mid-section. Further, these various protective elements may or may not overlap and may be of a variety of different constructions.
A limitation of traditional hockey pants is that most if not all of these protective elements are fixed in place on the pant, i.e. stitched or closed in permanently. While some hockey pants provide for pockets which may be opened to remove protective padding contained therein, for example for washing and repairs, generally speaking the protective elements are fixed and their location is therefore determined by the manufacturer of the protective equipment. In most cases this is a permanent fixation which does not provide for any flexibility or allow for any change in either the size of the protective element, its location or the range of protection. This fixed protection level is not viewed favorably by a number of players, who may wish to have some latitude in the positioning of the protective elements on their pants.
Accordingly, improvements are desirable.